It is generally known to utilize the principle of electro-osmosis to both assist pile driving and increase the load bearing strength of the soil as described in "Pile Driving by Electro-Osmosis", Nikolaev, Consultants Bureau, 1962; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,046,657; 4,119,511; 4,124,483; and 4,157,287.
The present invention is directed to an apparatus and method of driving and/or increasing the load bearing strength of an electrically conductive pile driven into soil having water above the soil. The invention is particularly applicable to piling driven into clay soil of low shear strength in which electro-osmosis is utilized to dry out and consolidate the soil and enhance its shear strength thereby increasing the load bearing of the piling. By increasing the load bearing strength of the soil, the piling need not be driven to deeper depths to obtain the necessary firm support, shorter piles may be used, and the cost of installing piling greatly decreases. The present invention maximizes the area of the load bearing support by utilizing an electrical conductive portion of the pile in the soil and by drying out the soil about the portion of the pile in the soil.